


Jake And The Ink Machine AU

by novarose122001



Category: Don't Starve (Video Game), Metegol | Underdogs (2013), Team Fortress 2, Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: Body Horror, Creatures, Ink, Ink Machine, cut outs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-01
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-03-25 10:44:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13832517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novarose122001/pseuds/novarose122001
Summary: 30 years have passed for Stephanie. Since she had left the studio for no good reason. Now, Simon Xander wants her back for something he hopes for her to see. When she came back to the studio, she realizes that what is there, is more than what meets the eye. All she has to do is to fight off ink monsters, creatures and solve mysteries of what lurks in the dark and mysterious halls of the studio.





	1. Moving Pictures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie appears at the place that she is from the letter and apparently, something changed...

The beginning shows a letter that said,

 

"Dear Stephanie,

 

It seems like a lifetime since we worked on cartoons together.

30 years really slips away, doesn't it? If you're back in town, come visit the old workshop.

There's something I need to show you.

 

Your best friend, Simon Xander."

 

Then, the door of a building opens up and shows a girl walked in and she has long brown hair that is down to her hips, hazelnut eye color, tanned almond skin color, and she is wearing a white shirt, with a collar, black suspenders that hold up her light brown pants, with a black belt with a silver buckle and light brown shoes with brown shoelaces. "Alright, Simon, I'm here. Let's see if we can find what you wanted me to see." She said, looking around the place. Her name is Stephanie Nova Rose Allen. She strode down the short hallway, decorated with posters of the cartoons and animated movies that she and her friend worked on and some ink dripping from the side for some reason.She wandered into a room and noticed the projector was on, even though 30 years have passed and also there was a character cutout. The character cutout has no color to it, but the clothing is a patterned vest with triangles, and long pants, then show his same designed socks and loafers. She smiled at the cutout and gently tapped the cutout's cheek. "It has been a while, huh, Jake?" Stephanie said. A moment of silence and Stephanie sighed. She walked away from the cutout and when she wandered into a different hallway, the cutout's eyes moved.

 

* * *

 

Down the hallway, Stephanie noticed a desk, and she gently touched the top. "Hey, here's my old desk. I've wasted so much time in this chair." Stephanie mumbled to herself. She looked at the sketches for a moment and smiled slightly. She walked away from the desk and strode down the hallway. She continued to look at the sketches on other tables that she has been looking at in the past and she softly smiled to herself. She strode down a different hallway and when she went into another corner, she saw writing on the wall in black ink that said,

 

" **Dreams Do Come True** "

 

Stephanie was confused and curious about the writing. Has Simon written that on the wall for some enthusiasm to the coworkers? She walked away from the writing and continued to walk down the hallway. She heard music from a closed door and got confused. She reached her hand to the doorknob and tried to unlock it, but the lock was so rusted, that it got stuck in place. "Dang, someone needs to oil that lock," Stephanie mumbled. She walked away from the locked door and continued down the hallway. She noticed a machine in the middle of the room and huffed. "So this is the Ink Machine, huh? Wonder how you turned it on." Stephanie said, interested. She walked out of the room and advanced into another hallway and saw another sketch table and looked around, another character cut out and the same color, but the character is different. This character is sporting a dark hat on top of his head that is covering the top of his head, one headphone with a mic on it on top of his dark hat, dog tags on a chain around his neck, a short-sleeved shirt, a dark sport backpack on his back with one strap, a black belt with a buckle around his waist, white bandages on his hands that is covering his palms, dark pants, long socks that is up to almost to his knees and black and white striped sneakers. "Hey, it's Scout! It has been a very long time since I've seen him, too!" Stephanie exclaimed. She gently patted the cutout's cheek and walked off on the left side. When she left, the eyes of the cutout moved.

 

* * *

 

While walking down the hallway, a piece of a plank fell from the ceiling and Stephanie gave out a shriek. She noticed the plank and looked up. She sighed in relief and patted her heart. "Oh, my god. That was a close one. Caleb would not like that." Stephanie said, noticing the worn-out nails. She walked past the fallen plank and walk even more. She looked down another hallway and felt her heart stopped. It was a real, a real cartoon, strapped on a 40-degree table, with his chest split open. "Oh, my god. Simon, what were you doing?" Stephanie said, with tears in her eyes. The cartoon is wearing a police-like white shirt, a white belt around his waist, white pants, and white shoes. His skin color is white, along with his short hair, and his eyes were closed, but a trail of black ink was dripping out from the side of his lip. "It's Chief Burns, the leader of the Burns family. Why would someone do this to an elder?" Stephanie cried. She touched the deceased elder's hand and started to cry. She glanced to the left and saw words that said,

 

" **Who's Laughing Now?** "

 

She looked back at the deceased elder and started to cry harder. "I'm sorry, I didn't get here even faster," Stephanie said, her voice sound croaked. She sniffed and looked up at the deceased elder. She touched her heart-shaped necklace with a silver chain around her neck and rubbed it a few times. She took it off from around her neck and gently set it in the deceased elder's hand. She walked away from the deceased elder and noticed a door, hallway opened. She opened the door and noticed that there is another room. She wandered into the room and saw a bunch of tables scattered around. She continued to walk through the hallway and opened the door, that lead the way to the place where the Scout cutout was, but to her shock, the cutout was gone! Stephanie felt her heart stopped. But, she thought about the deceased elder and shook her head. She walked into a different roof and saw pedestals in a line of three. The three on the side that has pictures that is a heart, a hard helmet, and a chain. On the other side of the wall is three more pedestals and they are a book, a music note paper, and a syringe. Stephanie confusedly rose one of her eyebrows and shrugged. "Alright, all I need to do is find all these objects and pretty soon, the Ink Machine will turn on," Stephanie said, wiping the tears away. She walked away and when she did, she saw the Jake cutout and she gave out a startled yelp. "Oh, my god. Who put this here?!" Stephanie cried out.

 

She shook her head in case if she was dreaming and only saw the cut out in front of her. She casually walked past it and marched forward. "Don't look back. Don't look back. Don't look back." Stephanie mumbled to herself. She strode down the hallway and saw a heart-shaped pendant on a table with scorch marks on top. "Well, someone is having fun with the flamethrower." Stephanie joked, trying to forget the mysterious popping cut out. She gently picked up the heart-shaped pendant, and it magically disappeared when she touched it. "Okay, I'm probably dreaming," Stephanie mumbled. She walked away from the spot and advanced into a different room and saw a sheet of music. She picked it up and it disappeared. She strode down another hallway and noticed a chain of chains. She picked that up and it disappeared. She strode into another room and noticed a green hard hat and picked it up and disappeared.

 

She wandered into a different room and saw a book with Russian handwriting and German handwriting. Confused, she picked it up and before she could open it, it disappeared and she sighed. She wandered into another new room and saw a syringe. She picked it up, and it disappeared in her hands. "Okay, that's all of them. Now I just need to get the ink flowing somehow. There must be a main switch around here somewhere. Then I can start up the main power." Stephanie explained to herself. She continued to walk down the hallway but was taken back when a cut out of another character popped its head from the side of the wall. She walked over even more and noticed that this cut out was a character and this character has a black sleeveless vest with four buttons, a white undershirt with a collar and rolled up sleeves, black pants, and black shoes. He has stuck up black hair that curls at the ends in three and white skin and black eyes. (Since 30 years have passed, all the colors have faded away.)

 

Stephanie sighed and gently set her hand on the cut out's cheek. "Hey, Wilson. It has been a while." Stephanie said, her voice sounded sad. She moved her hand away from the cutout and strode down the hallway. When she got out of the hallway, she felt something liquidly at her ankles and looked down. Ink was all over the ground. "Caleb is going to kill me," Stephanie said, worried. She turned the corner and observes the entrance to the Ink Machine was blocked and boarded with boards. "What the juice?" Stephanie said, confused. She walked closer to the boards and all of the sudden, a hand reached out of the boards and tried to grab her. She gave out a startled scream and encountered a creature, covered in multiple different colors of ink, that is spattered in different places and oddly has horns, different lengths, and numerous colored hair, a ring stuck in the head, weird looking gloves, sharp teeth smiling grin, and claws. "I'm getting the heck out of here!" Stephanie yelled out. She did a u-turn and ran bolted straight for the exit, but got lost. "Exit, exit, exit, WHERE'S THE FREAKIN' EXIT?!!!" Stephanie yelled. She saw the exit at the end of the narrow hallway that she went into, and it was waiting patiently for her and did a triumphed look on her face until before her hand could touch it, the ground gave away and her face turned from a triumphed look, into a fear-stricken face. "Ohhhhhhh CRRRRAAAAPPPP!!!!" Stephanie yelled as she fell.

 

* * *

 

As she fell, she landed hard on her back and she groaned. "Ow. Love a duck, that hurts!" Stephanie cried out. She rolled over on her front and tried to stand up, but stood up too fast and landed face first on the ground. "Ow," Stephanie said. She tried again and walked away from the spot. "You know what, I'm going to take the elevator next time I fall." Stephanie joked to herself. Then, she stopped in her tracks and heard a soft snicker from somewhere. "Did I just- Never mind," Stephanie mumbled to herself. She walked over to the stairs and slowly walked down them. She noticed an ax with a black handle and took it. "This will definitely come in handy," Stephanie said to herself. She noticed some wooden planks covering something and started to hack into them. When she got through, she smiled and called out, making a joke for her to laugh at to ignore what she had saw, "Here's Stephy!" Then, a chuckle from a different room and her smile disappeared. She wandered through the room and noticed a pentagram on the ground. She stepped inside the pentagram and all of the sudden, she dropped her ax, on its side and saw memories, of the creature, a wheelchair, and the Ink Machine. She wobbled side to side and fell backward on her back and passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	2. The Old Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie wakes up in a different place and realized that the place is more than what it seems to be...

"Ugh. Oh, my head." Stephanie groaned as her vision got clearer. "What happened?" she asked herself. She got up to her feet and looked around. Caskets around her and she went pale. "Alright, no need to panic, all you have to do is press on and no worries," Stephanie mumbled to herself in fear. She found the ax on one of the caskets and she picked it up and chopped the boards that covered a door. She walked through and recognize writings on the wall that said, " **We Will Set Us Free** " Stephanie shivered at the writing and walked away from it. As she walked away from the writing, she went into a whole ground full of ink and didn't mind going through the ink. While she was going through the ink, she noticed a figure, mumbling something underneath his/her breath, while carrying a cartoon cutout. "Hey! Excuse me! Can I have some help?" Stephanie called after him, as she quickly ran through the ink. When she got to the other side, she looked at the end of the hallway and the figure wasn't there, but the cartoon cut out. "Where did he go?" Stephanie mumbled to herself in confusion and curiosity. She glanced at the other end and noticed a tape recorder. She pressed the play button and a voice recorded through it. It said, the voice speaking through it, sounded calm and collected like someone is speaking directly to Stephanie,

 

" _ Even though I make the songs, I play the band. I can do this. Can I get an amen? _ " Then, the recording tape turned off, leaving Stephanie in silence, thinking to herself about the voice. "I said, 'Can I get an amen?'" the same voice said, from behind Stephanie's back and it was not from the recorder. Stephanie whipped her head around and no one was behind her back. She sighed from her startlement and pondered for a moment, as she looked back at the tape recorder in memory of a person that she used to work with before she left. "Caleb," Stephanie mumbled to herself in wonder. She shook her head for a moment and walked away from the tape recorder and noticed a gate. She looked at the leaver and there were three lights. "Look like I have to find the buttons and the gate will open," Stephanie mumbled to herself. She walked over to a cabinet and noticed a button. She pressed it and heard a beep. She jolted a bit and looked at the panel, and one of the buttons was lit up. 'Okay. That must be the first button. All I have to do is to find the next one.' Stephanie thought to herself. She walked over to another corner and noticed the second button and pressed it. It beeped and Stephanie smiled. 'One left." Stephanie thought to herself. She noticed the third and last button and she pressed it and the panel beeped and she walked back over to it. She pulled the lever and the gate opened. She walked through the gate and the lights lit up, showing a poster that said, "Music Studio."

 

"Oh, this is the music studio!" Stephanie exclaimed. Then, her gaze saddened. "It has been awhile since I've been here..." she mumbled sadly. She was quiet for a moment until she smelled a strong smell of ink. She gasped and looked up, but there was no one around here. She got confused for a moment and then, she walked over to a stairway and saw the exit. "There's the exit! But that is one heck of a leak. I...guess I have to find a way through." Stephanie said, her voice sounded sad for some reason. She walked away from the exit and walked over to a puddle and all of a sudden, an ink creature came out of it and tried to hurt Stephanie. She gave out a startled yelp and with her ax, she sliced it into two. She noticed the other ink creatures and gripped the ax even more. She continued attacking the ink monster until there is none of them and she panted a couple of times. She stopped panting and sighed, as she circled around and noticed the same person, but disappeared after she took a glance at the figure and she felt confused about the strange figure for a moment, before entering a long and narrow hallway.

 

She walked down the hallway until she noticed the ink pump and twisted the circular handle. After she had twisted the handle, she heard something drained, and she smiled. 'There, now the exit is open for me. But, what about-?' Stephanie thought were cut off when all of the sudden, something hit the back of her head and she collapsed on the ground, her head facing sideways and she saw an inky body. "Rest your head. Time for bed." the voice said, and Stephanie gasped. Before she could say the name, she plunged into darkness.

 

\---

 

Stephanie opened her eyes and saw the same inky body in front of her. The body was wearing a pair of white overalls and an ink-smudged Bendy mask. "C-Caleb!" Stephanie said, happily. "You would not believe-!" she continued until he said, his voice sounded hushed and quiet, but angry, "Shut up." She went quiet and got confused but scared. "I am not listening to a traitor's lies anymore," he said, sternly as he clenched his inky hand into a fist. "B-But, Caleb. D-Don't you know it's me, Stephanie?" she said, her voice sounded scared. "I don't care. It's time for you to believe. Once that they will take your life, they will free me, from this...inky like a prison that they call a body." he sneered. Stephanie's heart started to beat faster. "Now, it's time to begin the ritual," he said. Stephanie started to panic. "Ca-Caleb! Please, I-I'm-!" but her words were cut off when he gagged her with a rag. He walked away from Stephanie as she squirmed through the tight ropes and gasped with the speakers turned on.

 

" _ Sheep, sheep, sheep. It's time for sleep. Rest your head. It's time for bed. In the morning, you may wake. Or in the morning, you'll be dead. _ " his voice creepily spoke through the speakers. Stephanie reached into her pockets and grabbed her mini knife and started to cut the ropes until the gate opened and she felt her heart stopped, but she continued to cut, this time, faster. " _ Hear me, Topia! Arise from the darkness! Arise and claim my offering! Free me! I beg you. I summon you, creature! Show your face and take this tender sheep! _ " he screeched through the speakers. Stephanie cut faster until she heard noises from the speaker room and Caleb's terrified voice. " _ No! My Lord! Stay back! I am your prophet! I am your-AHHHH! _ " he said until everything went quiet. She finished cutting the ropes and then, bubbly, but a clear voice said, in different tones of voices, " **_GeT oUt Of ThIs PlAcE aNd NeVeR rEtUrN._ ** "

 

Stephanie's skin color went pale, and the speakers went off. She blinked and picked up her ax and walked out of the room, into the hallway. She continued to walk down the hallway and noticed the exit. She was getting down the stairs when she hesitated. There was a moment of silence and she looked at the boarded planes of wood and back at the exit. A memory went into her mind, showing her crying and slamming her fists on the door and then a man, ordering Stephanie as he pointed at the exit in angry as she had tear stains on her cheeks. She clenched her hand, that contains the ax. "I am not abandoning this place, not that easy," she said, calmly. "If you want to be alone, don't ask. But, to me,... You required help." Stephanie said, calmly. She turned her back to the door and strode down the hallway and turned the corner. The puddle of ink that was blocking the exit, started to bubble and showed the creature and it has a confused face, from underneath the ink, until it shook its head and charged after Stephanie.

 

\---

 

"Dang blang it!"

 

Stephanie was annoyed that her ax snapped and then, she heard thumping footsteps and she smirked. "Now, we're talking," she said. She ran, and the creature chased after her. She advanced into a room and closed the door and but a wood bar in front of it. "I'm sorry!" Stephanie said, from behind the door. "Wait until I'm ready to confront you!" she called. The creature was quiet until she heard the footsteps and she sighed while leaning her back against the door. She took a couple of steps toward the next corner until a bacon soup can rolled in medium speed down the hallway. "Hmm? Who's there? Show yourself," Stephanie demanded. A pair of footsteps that sounded like shoes and she got excited. Is it Simon? But, instead, when the figure appeared, Stephanie's jaw dropped, and she recognized the body. The fair skin color, the grey aging hair with the grey mustache, the black doe eyes, and the short sleeved blue police shirt, a black belt with a silver buckle, black pants, and black shoes. In his right hand was a silver chain with a gold heart-shaped pendant and she gasped.

 

"...Charlie?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	3. Rise And The Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie woke up with a new character and, someone else wants more than a little task...

Stephanie opened her eyes and realized she was in a different room, instead of on the hard ground from passing out. She sat up gingerly, rubbing her back from the harsh seat that she was sleeping on and from the fall earlier. She got up to her feet and looked at her surroundings. Inside the room was a hammock in the middle, nailed to the walls sideways, and a Bendy clock that reads, 12:15. 'Jeez, I've been out for a long time...' Stephanie thought to herself. She got up to her feet and winced from the pain from the fall, and she gingerly rubbed the bruise. She walked out of the room and advanced into a different room and saw Chief Charlie Burns, perching in that location on the chair, sitting there, looking sad for some reason at a picture inside Stephanie's heart-shaped pendant that she wore around her neck in his right hand. When he heard her footsteps, he glanced up from the locket and closed the pendant with a light click and set the necklace down on the table, without her noticing he was staring at the picture inside. Stephanie walked over to Chief Burns, and he crossed his arms over his chest, looking annoyed at her as if she hasn't told him of what happened to the coffee maker. Oh boy, that memory...

 

A moment of silence and Stephanie sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck, guilty and internally scolding herself for abandoning them behind for no good reason. “Hi, Charlie.” Stephanie finally greeted, sheepishly. Chief Burns did not greet her back, along glanced away from her with a scowl on his face and Stephanie continued to rub the back of her neck. She removed her hand away from her neck, as she gently released a sigh and turned around to a hallway and left Chief Burns, before checking over her left shoulder to glance back at him, with a sad and hurt look on her face. She wandered into a hallway and saw a door. She reached for the doorknob when she did not feel it. “Dang. Looks like someone decided to take off the knob.” Stephanie mumbled to herself. She walked over to Chief Burns, and he looked at her eyes. “Hey, Charlie, uh, do you know where is the doorknob?” She asked. He glanced back at Stephanie with an annoyed look on his face and only replied with a shrug of his shoulders and Stephanie sighed calmly. Unlike Simon, he easily snaps whenever one of the cartoons replied at him with no answer, but luckily she has patience with the cartoons. “Oh, well, I guess I have to find the doorknob all by myself.” Stephanie murmured after she had sighed. He glanced back over at her with confusion on his face now, but with bits of concern on his face, and she walked away from him, leaving him in uncertainty. She wandered around the safe house, looking for the doorknob, but, she couldn't find it. She rubbed her head in confusion when she noticed something glistened from underneath the table, and she turned to the glisten. “Hmm?” she hummed. She knelt down, gingerly from the fall earlier before and reached underneath the table and grabbed the doorknob and pulled it back. It was silver, and the screws were off and missing. “Darn, darn, darny, darn.” Stephanie softly cursed. “The screws are gone. Looks like I have to find those too and the screwdriver.” She walked away from the spot and observed a drawer. She opened the drawer and noticed four screws. “Bingo,” she smirked. She gathered up the screws and looked around for the screwdriver.

 

She found the screwdriver in a toolbox and picked up the blue and red hand tool. As she walked towards the main room, where Chief Burns is. “Great! I found the screws, the screwdriver, and the doorknob; all I need to do is place the doorknob back and I, Charlie and the rest of the trapped cartoons that we’ll find, will get the heck out of here.” She said, sounding determined. Meanwhile, in the room, at the table, Chief Burns overheard all the conversations that Stephanie talks about, and he was shocked about what Stephanie said. He was quiet for a moment, and he looked at Stephanie who walked by him and walked over to the door and tried to fix the knob. She knelt down on one knee and fastened the screws inside and unlocked the door. She poked her head out and then, walked down the hallway. While walking, she saw a small outhouse like-box that said, “Little Miracle Station.” Stephanie wonders what that is for. She continues to walk down the hallway until heard someone else walking, and she stopped wandering. She grabbed a random object and whirled around, with the object over her head going to strike the person or creature behind her and instead Chief Burns gave a startled yelp and lifted up his hand for protection, and she immediately stopped before he gets hit. “Oh! Chief! You scared me!” she exclaimed. “Sorry about that Stephanie.” Chief Burns said, his voice sounded elderly but still young and nice. Stephanie nervously chuckled and moved the object away from their eyesight. “It's okay. I'm actually sorry. I didn't mean to hit you, I thought you were a Searcher or someone else, but I was wrong.” Stephanie said, sounding guilty. There was a quiet moment and Stephanie glanced away from the old timer's eyes and softly replied, “I was very wrong, too.” Chief Burns noticed the look on her face and gently placed his right hand on her left shoulder. “Is something wrong?” he asked. Stephanie looked at his eyes for a while, until a tear rolled down her cheek. “Yes. There is a problem.” she sobbed. “I am so sorry for abandoning you behind with your family.” She put down the object on a table and with her sleeves, she wiped off the tears.

 

Chief Burns felt confused about why she said that until he asked, “Why did you leave us?” She sniffed and replied, “I-I had to. I didn't want to abandon this place. You were my only family. Wh-When Simon told me to leave for no reason; I-I had to leave. H-He forced me. I'm-I'm so sorry.” she sobbed as tears rolled down her cheeks. Chief Burns was in both shock and guilt. As she cried, she sniffed again, and he felt sorry for her, so he gently reached over with his hands and softly pulled her into a hug. “It's okay. It's not your fault. It's never your fault.” Chief Burns said, gently rubbing her back. Stephanie was quiet for a moment when she hugged Chief Burns back. “Thank you, Charlie.” She thanked. Chief Burns pulled away from Stephanie and smiled, as she wiped one last tear. She glanced at the thing in her hands, and the object was a flashlight. “Hey, a flashlight. That might help me with dark places.” Stephanie said, lifting up the flashlight. She turned on the flashlight and shined it down the dark and mysterious hallway. “Stay close to me, Charlie,” Stephanie replied. He only nodded his head, and they both carefully walked into the hallway, looking out for Searcher or any other ink like creatures or any other ink like beings. The ink was all over the place and Stephanie sighed. “Simon, if I found you, I would like to ask you why the ink?” Stephanie angrily mumbled to herself. Before she could walk inside, she felt something scooped her up from underneath, and she glanced upward. It was Chief Burns, and he has her in his hands and is walking her through the ink, looking worried and wary about what's inside the ink.

 

While going through the ink, Stephanie has the light shining as they were traveling through and while Chief Burns was walking forward, carrying her in his arms, till someone or something scurried across the floor up above them. “Did you just hear that?” Stephanie asked. Chief Burns only replied by nodding his head slightly up and down. “Yeah, me too,” she replied, sounded both scared and nervous at the same time. Then, he continues to walk, but this time, more carefully, while Stephanie was thinking to herself about what happened her when she was gone for 30 straight years. When they exited the hallway and out of the ink, Chief Burns let her down on the ground and Stephanie turned the flashlight off when she stepped into the light. In front of them was a metal door with two halves shut tight. “Another dead end,” Stephanie said, as she gently shook her head side to side in sadness. “I don't see any other way out.” she turned to Chief Burns. “Do you have any idea?” she asked. Chief Burns nodded his head up and down slightly. “Yes, I do,” he said. He reached over to his comlink on his collar and gently pressed the green button. “This is Chief Burns. Boris, are you there?” he asked, speaking through the comlink on his collar. After a moment, Chief Burns smiled and turned around to the metal doors. “Can you open the metal door that we are standing in front?” he asked, still gently pressing down on the green button on his comlink. Another moment of silence and he released the button. Then, the air shaft to the air vents came off and inside was another cartoon character, but this one's different. He's a wolf with black Pac man eyes, with a white snout and black nose, wearing gray overalls with dark buttons, white opera gloves with three small black lines and black shoes. On his right trouser strap is a comlink like Chief Burns and when he noticed Stephanie, his tail wagged back and forth happily.

 

Stephanie gasped in shock. “Boris?” she questioned. Boris nodded his head. Stephanie smiled happily and hugged Boris after he fully came out. “I am so happy you are here!” She exclaimed happily. Boris hugged Stephanie back and Chief Burns smiled too. After a moment, she released Boris and Boris let Stephanie go back. “Anyways, can you help us?” she asked, as she reached into her pocket, pulling out a candy bar. She knows that Boris is the one that inevitably is the person that eats first, then helps later type of cartoon. Boris nodded and gently removed the candy bar from Stephanie's hand and peeled the wrapper off and ate the treat inside, before taking the flashlight from her as well. “I'll follow after you in case of Searchers.” Chief Burns said. Boris nodded, and he turned around and knelt down on his knees and switched on the flashlight, and started to crawl, along with Chief Burns behind his back. “I’m getting too old for this, though.” Stephanie heard Chief mumble, before disappearing. After a while, Stephanie is started to get scared, because she fears to be alone and then, clinks and clanking echoed around her, and she jolted. Then, gear started to grind and the metal door opened, heading to another hallway. She inhaled and exhaled before she started to walk down the corridor. As she strode down the hallway and turned another corner, and wandered into an enormous chamber and the room seized her off guard. She saw a large of merchandise room full of various toys. From Chief Burns to Bendy, Alice, everyone! Stephanie looked around the place in awe. “Whoa, I don't even remember any of this.” she murmured to herself. She walked over to a door and Stephanie looked at the gears. The shelves full of doll Alices was blocking a door, and she sighed. “Why is there always something blocking the doorway?” she mumbled. “There's gotta be a way through.” She walked around for a moment until she found a tape recorder and pressed the play button and a different voice spoke through the tape machine.

 

“ _I don't be seein' what the big deal is. So what if I went and painted some of those Bendy dolls with a crooked smile? That's surely for no reason for Mr. Drew to be flyin' off the handle at me. And if really wants to be so helpful, he could tellin' me what to be doin' with this warehouse I got full of that angel whatchamacallit. Not a scrap of that mess be a-sellin'! Probably have to melt it all down to be rid of it._ ” the tape recorder explained, before clicking off. “Shawn Flynn. I don't think we've created him. Do we?” Stephanie murmured to herself. Then, she shook her head and walked around again and noticed a switch. She pulled the switch, but nothing happened. “Looks like I have to find the other lever and find out what's blocking the gears,” Stephanie mumbled to herself. She strode down another hallway and looked at the gears. They were blocked by toys and Stephanie gently took out the stuck dolls. She stopped at a Jake doll that was sitting on a chair in front of her, glancing at her with a smirk, and she smiled back. She lifted up the figurine and gently patted the doll's head. “I think I'll embrace this doll for safekeeping,” Stephanie mumbled to herself as she gently tucked the doll into her arms. She continued to walk until she reached up to a room, and she stepped inside and saw a glass window in the room and above the window was a sign that said, “They Are Quite The Gals!” and surrounded by miniature TVs. Not only that there were cutouts of Alice Angel, but other female cartoons, like Nya from Ninjago, Laura from Underdogs, Danni from Transformers Rescue Bots, Elsa from Frozen, and many other female characters from other movies that they created in the good times. Besides the cutouts, there are also female plushies on the other side on a shelf.

 

Then, the lights went off, instead of the one in front of the window and next, the TVs turned on and a song played through the speakers and Stephanie lightly hugged the Jake doll, thinking that there is a creature that is going to pop out, since she doesn't have any weapons, until, music started and the song starts like this; “ _I'm the cutest little angel sent from above, and I know just how to sing, I got a bright little halo, and I'm filled with love... I'm Alice Angel!_ ” the song continued. Stephanie started to dance slightly to the song, calming down slowly until a spotlight clicked, and she stopped dancing, show the inside of the room and it revealed the room with a door that has Alice Angel's name on the door. Stephanie decided to take two steps forward, full of curiosity. “ _I'm the hit of the party; I'm the belle of the ball, I'm the toast of the town, just one little dance and I'll warm your heart... I'm Alice Angel! I ain't nobody; I'm a happy dish, and boy, this girl can sing, This gal can grant your every wish-_ ” the song continued to play until it stopped by a humanized figure jumped up from underneath the window, pressed against the glass to face her, and Stephanie gave a startled yelp and gently squeezed the Jake doll in her arms and the figure have long different colored hair, that was cut in different series of places, from long to short to extra short and from long to extra short and her clothing was different, an orange and dark gray jumpsuit, and she can't see the bottom half of the body, except the face, only a bit.

 

The voice, that sounded like a thousand voices in demonic female voices that screamed at her, screaming, “ **_WE ARE ALICE ANGEL!_ ** " Then, gave out a frustrated, " **_NO!!!_ ** ” Then, she smashed the window after the roar, together with the lights went off and Stephanie was shaking from head to toe while still gently clutching the Jake doll against herself. Her enraged screams were replaced with an eerie chuckle. “ **_We see you there,_ ** ” she said, sounding calm, but frightening as well. “ **_A new fly in our endless web. Come along now. Let's see if you're worthy enough to walk with the angels._ ** ” The lights turned on and Stephanie gasped. She glanced at the window, and the window was broken, trailed with eerie different colors of ink and the figure is nowhere to be seen, she sighed in relief. She walked away from the room and strode down a long hallway and come to a crossroad sign, that said, “Angel” on the right side and “Demon” on the left. She decided to take the “Demon” side and when she took the road, she wandered into the room and inside the room, as much ink. Bunches, and bunches of ink! From the top of the room to the bottom of the ground. Stephanie found another tape recorder, and she pressed the play button and heard someone else's voice on the tape recorder.

 

“ _There's nothing wrong with dreaming. Wishing for the impossible is just human nature. That's how I got started. Just a pencil and a dream. We all want everything without even having to lift a finger. They say you just have to believe. Belief can make you succeed. Belief can make you rich. Belief makes you powerful. Why, with enough belief, you can even cheat death itself. Now that...Is a beautiful and positively silly thought._ ” he said, his voice sounded calm, but his words, sounded like lies. "Joey Drew..." she whispered in confusion. 'Who's he?' She thought to herself after she had whispered the name to herself. Then, she walked away from the room and went into the “Angel” side. When she strode inside, she heard something slammed, and she looked and the doorway to the “Demon” side was blocked off with a metal door. She exhaled and continues to walk into the hallway and on the wall, it was another writing that said, “Dreams Come True” and Stephanie sighed. She wandered past the writing and saw another tape recorder on the sofa, and pressed the play button while sitting near an Alice doll, and she lifted up the Alice doll and gently hugged the doll, along with the Jake doll. The voice on the tape recorder played and the voice sounded sad, and Stephanie's gaze softens. “ _Everything feels like it's coming apart._ ” she sobbed through the audio of the tape recorder. “ _When I walked into the recording booth today, Sammy was there with that... Alison. Apparently, I didn't get the memo. Alice Angel will now be voiced, by Miss Alison Pendle. A part of me died when he said that. There's gotta be a way to fix this._ ” After the tape recorder finished, the tape machine clicked and Stephanie looked sad and worried about her. Then, she lifted up the Alice doll, that was sitting right next to it, and she gently hugged the doll. “I'm very sorry, Suzie. I didn't know about this.” Stephanie softly spoke to the doll. She gently kissed the doll's forehead and stood up, while carrying the Alice doll and the Jake doll in her arms. Stephanie looked around for a moment until her eyes caught a turquoise blue backpack on the ground.

 

She gently lifted up the backpack and softly put the dolls inside and gently slung the backpack over her back and went down the hallways, while the backpack on her back softly swayed side to side. Then, as she was walking, a Bendy cutout peeked around the corner, and she gasped, jolting back a little. She peeked around the corner and saw Boris, standing right by Chief Burns, giggling. “Boris! You scared me!” Stephanie exclaimed. “Sorry.” Boris apologized. “I couldn't resist.” then added a giggle at the end and Stephanie chuckled back. Stephanie sighed from her jolt and noticed that there will be monsters outside the safe zone. “Don't you suppose you found anything we can defend ourselves with?” Stephanie asked, her voice sounded worried. “I did found this.” Chief Burns said, holding out a pipe. She gently took the pipe from Chief Burns and smiled. “This will do,” Stephanie said, gripping the new weapon. “Thank you.” She thanked. Chief Burns nodded his head and Stephanie continued to walk down the hallway. She strode down the hallway, and Chief Burns noticed the black backpack on her back. “Uh, Stephanie?” Chief Burns questioned. Stephanie stopped walking and turned around to Chief Burns. “Yes?” she asked. “Why do you have a backpack on your back?” he asked. Stephanie smiled and gently set the backpack down and unzipped the zipper. She gently pulled out them and showed them the dolls. “I feel sorry for abandoning the dolls behind. Thus, I decided to collect all the dolls so that they won't be alone anymore. When I found him,” Stephanie explained, before gently pressing the doll of Jake against her face. “I felt calm whenever I carry them around.” Chief Burns and Boris nodded their heads and Stephanie gently put the backpack over to her back. She turned back around and continued to walk. When she reached to another room, with shelves of dolls from different cartoons, Stephanie smiled and gazed down at the ground. The ground was covered in ink and she sighed. She turned around to find a chair when Chief Burns hold out his hands and gently smiled at Stephanie. “I'll hold the backpack for you,” he said. Stephanie smiled and nodded and gave Chief Burns the backpack.

 

After she had given the backpack to Chief Burns, she turned to Boris and smiled. “Boris? Can you do me a favor?” Stephanie asked. Boris nodded, and Stephanie smiled more into a gentle smirk. “Can you help me collect the dolls? Only the ones that I recognize. We only got Alice and Jake, so we need to collect the rest of the dolls.” Stephanie explained in a precise manner. Boris nodded his head again and walked over to a shelf and gently picked up a Boris doll and walked over to the backpack and softly put him inside. Stephanie walked over to a shelf and gently picked up a Chief Burns doll and placed him inside the backpack. After a few moments of collecting, Stephanie sighed and wiped some sweat off her forehead, and she gently took the backpack from Chief Burns and gently put the backpack on her shoulder, onto her back. Then, she walked past the empty shelves, where the dolls were and noticed a metal door that was sealed tight and only controlled by a panel. The panel has two blinking lights of A and B. “Looks like we have to pull the lever at the same time.” Stephanie theorized. “Then I'll get the B leaver.” Boris pointed. “Then I'll get the A leaver,” Stephanie said. “I'll follow after you in case of someone or something attacks you.” Chief Burns said, sounding brave. She nodded and Boris walked over to the B leaver and Stephanie followed the cables to the A leaver and when she found the lever, in front of a Cuphead poster, until it ripped and a character that Stephanie know was a character that she created. “Charles?!” Chief Burns exclaimed.

 

“Chimpanzee!” Stephanie also exclaimed. Charles growled and jumped down from the hidden secret place, and he has enormous ears, a black nose, a dark beard and sideburns, a nearly bald head, and wearing a black tailcoat with a tan vest and a black tie and his right eye is gouged out and filled with some kind of ink while sporting an X-shape with small stitches for the left eye. His mouth is always open wide as if screaming, with human-like teeth. He wears a single black shoe on his left leg and has a plunger for his right leg that acts like a peg-leg that gives him a limp when running. His arms are long and thin, and he wears a white glove on his right hand. His left arm looks stiff in a position similar to a scarecrow, and also missing his left hand. His tailcoat is slightly worn out with the right sleeve shorter than the left, and a hole located at the bottom left of his stomach to reveal innards. In his right hand is a wrench. He growled and charged at Stephanie, but she swung her hand without the pipe and smacked the cartoon across the cheek and suddenly, the cartoon fell backward and turned into ink. Stephanie was panting from the startled jolt and what happened to the cartoon. She sighed and glanced at Chief Burns, who is looking terrified and scared.

 

Stephanie glanced at her hand that was covered in black ink from the cartoon, and she wiped the dark ink on her gray sweatpants and gently touched Chief Burn's shoulder. “Charlie? Are you alright?” she asked. Chief Burns didn't respond and Stephanie pulled her hand away, only to be shocked at the blue ink, covered the palm of her hand. “Charlie? Are you okay?” she repeated as she wiped the blue ink on her sweatpants. Chief Burns snapped out of his daze and glanced at Stephanie, his hair turning into light gray ink, and drips of skin color ink, dripped from his face, along with his clothing. “H-Huh? Oh, s-sorry Stephanie.” he stammered, as ink dripped from him. Stephanie was quiet for a moment until she shrugged and walked over to the leaver. She grabbed the leaver as Chief Burns behind her back started to breathe slowly as more drips of ink dripped from him. “Ready Boris?” Stephanie called. “Ready!” He called back. “Three. Two...” a moment of silence. “Three!” both of them said, before pulling the lever and the machine started. “There we go. We'll be home in no time.” Stephanie said, sounding happy. But, for Chief Burns, he still looks terrified and his hands were shaking. He shook his head, accidentally flicking some ink in places and his hair turned back to its normal self. He followed after Boris after he had been petrified and walked by Boris' side and could see the terrifying look on his face. “Hey, somethin' wrong?” he asked. Chief Burns didn't answer back, and he continued to drip ink. They walked down a two-story stair, and they reached over to an elevator. “I hope this elevator works,” Stephanie mumbled to herself.

 

She walked into the elevator, followed after Chief Burns and Boris and when the three of them stepped inside, Stephanie pressed the “Door” button and when she pressed the button, the intercom turned on and it was the same female from earlier, “ **_You're so interesting. So different._ ** ” she said, sounded interested, but in a beckoning tone in her voice. Stephanie shivered a bit from her voice. “ **_Looks like you have a date with the angels. Come to us now. Level 9. Just follow the screams._ ** ” she whispered. Stephanie glanced at Chief Burns and Boris in a confused look and the both of them shrugged. So, Stephanie reached over to a button that said, “L9” and she pressed the button, and they reached Level 9. Stephanie quickly took out the Jake doll and started to walk up to the front of the place, until the intercom turned on again and they spoke through the speakers again. “ ** _Come on, step out of your cage. There's a whole twisted world out here,”_** she whispered, sounding like it was calling for her to come closer. So, she started getting closer, until she found another tape recorder and hit the play button and it was a little bit of a deep voice, but, very kind to her taste. The voice said, “ _These blasted elevators. Sometimes they open, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they come, sometimes they keep on going to hell and back. I keep telling these people if Mr. Drew keeps cutting corners like this, someone's sure to end up falling to their deaths. And it sure ain't going to be me. I'm taking the stairs._ ” the voice said, through the tape recorder. Stephanie felt stumped. Who is this person? “Hey, that's Thomas Connor!” Boris exclaimed. “Who's Thomas Connor?” Stephanie questioned. Boris' ears flattened down. “You don't remember him?” he asked. Stephanie shook her head no.

 

Chief Burns glanced at Boris, as Boris glanced at Chief Burns. "You used to talk to him at lunch break, explaining your ideas to him about the next plot in the story." Chief Burns replied, explaining what he remembers. "I...did?" Stephanie replied in confusion. “To simply tell you two the truth, I only remember a little, but nothin' else,” She added while rubbing the right side of her head in a thinking way. Boris fell quiet along with Chief Burns. She shook the memory from her head and walked away from the tape recorder and walked in front of an opening of another room. She looked up at the top of the entrance, and it was Alice Angel's head with splatters of ink in some places and in her hands was a sign that said, “They Are Quite The Gals!” on it. She sighed while holding the Jake doll against her and then, the doors to the entrance opened, and she jolted a bit. When it opened fully, Stephanie walked through, until Boris ran past Stephanie and Chief Burns. “Boris! Wait!” Stephanie called after him, but, he ran down at the end of the hallway and Chief Burns followed after him. Stephanie ran closer until she heard a gasp and something took two steps backward. She ran over to the corner of the hallway, and something made her shocked. In front of her were two corpses, and they were clones, Boris and Chief Burns, with their chests opened and replaced with mechanical strains and all of their colors drained. Stephanie couldn't help but shiver at the sight. Poor Chief Burns looked like he was going to vomit as his skin color slowly turn pale in a sick way and more ink dripped from him, making small puddles underneath his feet. Stephanie gently placed her hand on his shoulder, and she felt the ink like feeling, and she pulled her hand away to see the blue ink on her hand. “Boris,” Stephanie said, turning to face him. “Y-Yes?” he stammered. “Stay here with Chief Burns and try your best to calm him down,” she asked. Boris nodded and helped Chief Burns outside of the place, as he left some splatters of blue and black ink like footprints on the ground, and Stephanie faced in front and bodies of Borises, Piper, or Charles to be precise, and Chief Burnses, all over the place. The intercom turned on, and Stephanie gently hugged the Jake doll against her.

 

“ **_Look around you. It took so many to make us so beautiful._ ** ” her voice said, through the speakers, making Stephanie shiver. “ **_Anything less than perfect was left behind. We had to it. They made us._ ** ” Stephanie crossed through the sea of ink and reached over to the front of the entrance and walked down the hallway while hearing loud electrocutions of electricity, and she wandered into a room, where she could see her better. She was thin, like a ballerina, and she has a halo, embedded into her head, and her halo was snapped from behind. She has demon horns on the sides of the head and has an evil look on her face, almost looking through Stephanie, like glass. Her face looked normal right side of her face, but the left side of her face was different than the other side. The left side of her face looks rather repulsive yet demonic from slightly melting, with half of her teeth exposed and an empty left eye-socket with few ink-like tears. Under her neck, there appears to be a slit oozing with one drip of ink acting as blood. “ **Hmm.** ” she hummed slightly, her voice sounded like a thousand female voices, but in a demonic voice. “ **Now we come to the question.** ” she began, adding a snicker to her words. “ **Do we kill you? Do we tear you apart to our heart's delight? The choices of the beautiful are unbearable. How is a bunch of girls to choose?** ” she added another snicker, before jabbing an angry finger that Piper. “ **Take this little freak for instance! He crawled in here...trailing his tainted ink to our door!** ” she growled. “ **It could've touched us! It could have pulled us back! Do you know what it's like? Living in dark puddles?** ” she asked, looking straight into Stephanie's steel blue eyes. Stephanie only shook her head no, clenching the Jake doll against her body. “ **It's a buzzing, screaming well of voices. Bits of your mind swimming...like...like fish swimming in a bowl! The first time we were born from its inky womb, we were a wiggling, pussing, shapeless slug! The second time...well...It made us an angel! We will not let the demon touch us again. We’re so close. So...almost perfect.** ” she said, her voice sounded uncruel anymore, but gentle at sometimes. “ **Yes, we will spare you. For now. Better yet, we will let you ascend and leave this place. If you do a few eensy weensy favors for us first. Return to the lift our little errand girl. We have work to do.** ” she demanded. "Wait one moment," Stephanie spoke up. She glanced at her in confusion and said, " **What is it?** " She sighed and said, "What are your names?" She softly chuckled and replied, " **Well, we were once called individually years ago, until, we are whole now that you are staring now. But, you can call us Nephilim.** " Before she could do anything else, she looked at the doll in Stephanie's arms and growled. " **Why on earth do you carry that wretched doll with you?** " she whispered.

 

Then, she slammed her hand down on a button and a metal door slammed in front of the glass as Piper groaned in pain as the electrocutions noises echoed through the air. Stephanie quickly, but gingerly, put the Jake doll inside her backpack and gently put the backpack on her back and ran down the hallway, to the lift, until she stopped at another tape recorder. She walked over to the tape recorder and pressed the play button, and it was Suzie's voice again. She said, “ _Who would've thought? Me having lunch with Joey Drew. Apparently, times are tougher than I thought. For a moment there, I thought I'd be stuck with the check. But I gotta say, he wasn't at all what I expected. Quite the charmer. He even called me Alice. I liked it._ ” Stephanie felt curious after the tape recorder stopped. Did Suzie liked being called Alice? She walked away from the tape recorder and reached over to the main room, where Boris is and Chief Burns. There Boris is tending Chief Burns, as he looked a bit sick, but his skin, his gray hair, his pants and shoes, and his blue shirt, was dripping with water drops from the sky, and they were descending faster than little drips earlier, but instead of his arms and legs and feet, they are now dripping from his arms, face, hair and his entire body.

 

“What's happening to him?” Stephanie asked, sounded worried as she knelt down on one knee and gently put her hand on his face as his skin color ink landed on his hand. “It's alright. Chief Burn is only sick.” Boris explained. “It'll go away soon.” Stephanie nodded her head and looked at her surroundings. “Alright, I need you to stay here with Chief Burns as I go do Nephilim's tasks. When I'm finished, I'm going to find out what happened to them and everyone else.” She explained. Boris was quiet for a moment until he nodded and moved out of the way, while gingerly dragging Chief Burns out of the way, making a black, blue and grayish whitish smudge like a line on the elevator's ground. Stephanie went back around and the intercom turned on and she waited patiently for the first task. “ **_Our machines are hungry!_ ** ” she barked through the speakers. “ **_Gather us some spare parts._ ** ” Before Stephanie could leave, a mechanism opened, revealing a wrench inside. So, Stephanie attached the metal pipe to her belt and grabbed the wrench from the mechanism. She turned back down the stairs and walked down the stairs. She walked over to the elevator where Boris and Chief Burns are, and she stepped into the middle and closed the doors to the elevator. “Best if you two stay inside here, it's not safe out there with two friends.” she calmly replied. Boris was quiet as he had Chief Burns right next to him. “Alright, we'll stay in the elevator until you are done.” Stephanie glanced at him and smiled lightly.

 

“Alright,” she replied. She pressed a button on the control panel to Level K, and then, the intercoms turned on, Nephilim's voice breaking the eerie silence that filled the air. “ **_There are so few rules to our world now. So little truths. But there is one rule we all know and respect down here. Beware the Ink Demon. Stay out in the open for too long, and he will find you. For if you see him, you'd better hide. If you don't, well, we enjoyed our date. Now, let us begin our work._ ** ” she spoke through the speakers, making Stephanie’s hairs on her arms, and the back of her neck stood up from the ends. “ **_Have you met him? The Ink Demon? They say he hears everything. Every creak of the floor. Every rustle of paper. We wouldn't run so fast if we were you, you never know what will draw him in._ ** ” Stephanie slightly nodded her head, and being careful as she can, she stepped onto the floors of Level K and searched for the gears. Also, keeping an eye out for Searchers. After she had collected the gears, the intercom turned on and Nephilim said through the speakers, “ **_Ah. That should be plenty. Return them to us. And try not to die on the way back._ ** ” She nodded her head again and carefully walk back over to the elevator and went back to Level 9 and Stephanie placed the gears through the slot near the door. “ **_Have you seen them? The swollen ones! They're just stuffed full of extra-thick ink. It makes us sick! And yet... it's the perfect thing for keeping us together. If you're going to catch them, you'll have to learn to move quietly. Come back to our door. We have something that you'll need._ ** ”

 

Stephanie noticed the slot changed and revealed a syringe. Before she could touch it though, a memory went through her head, revealing her and someone else with the same syringe in his or her hand, stabbing her with it. She shivered slightly from that feeling and ignored it, taking the syringe off of the slot. She walked back over to the elevator and pressed a button that goes to Level 11 and there is a swollen Searcher, to about over Stephanie’s height. She carefully walked over to the first one and carefully, injected the needle inside and injected the ink into it. It disappeared from her injection and she sighed in relief. She adventured throughout the whole place, looking for the swollen Searchers until she saw something odd. An ink creature with a projector for a head, with wires, and it was walking through the room, past the glass window, which apparently is where Stephanie saw it. 'Holy shiitake mushrooms...' she thought to herself in shock. But, then she noticed a tape recorder, and she walked over to the tape recorder, pressing the play button on it and the voice that spoke through it was Wally Frank again. He said, “ _I don't get it. Everyone's walking around here like grandma just died. Nothing but angry faces everywhere. These people gotta lighten up. I mean, hello! You make cartoons! Your job is to make people laugh. I'm tellin' ya. If these people don't start crackin' a smile every now and then, I'm outta here._ ” After the tape recorder turned off, she lightly chuckled to herself. Always saying, “I’m outta here!” all the time, and it always makes Stephanie feel like home. All the time. She wonders where he could be inside the studio.

 

She walked away from the tape recorder that belongs to Wally and noticed a swollen toon. He has a small right eye reveals to be sunken and round, with an X-shape for a pupil. His large left round empty eye-socket seems stretched down to the upper lip of his mouth, and the left side of his face is covered with what appears to be a growth-like tumor sporting either white boils or warts. A part of his corn-cob pipe is used as his nose. He has a large frowning mouth with two “toothpicks” and contains a small set of false teeth slightly resembling of the nutcracker. He wears a pair of boot-like shoes and a wooden sign for a buckle from his belt which says “LIAR” written in ink. He also wears a pair of white gloves sprinkled with ink, and wields a wrench as a weapon in his left hand. She quickly injected the needle into the mutant's arm, and he disappeared after that. Then, the intercoms turned on and Nephilim spoke through the speakers, saying, “ **_Once upon a time, there was an angel, along with other angels that surround her. And they were beautiful. And loved by all. They were perfect. No matter what Simon says._ ** ” She went back down to the elevator and placed the ink filled syringe through the slot. She stood in the middle of the stage and waited patiently for the next task. The intercom turned on again, and she said, “ **_We'll make this simple. Look for valve panels. Turn the little wheels. Then bring us their power cores. Please don't make us regret sparing you. We can always change our minds._ ** ”

 

The next weapon she gives her is a...plunger? She confusedly stares at the weapon for a moment, before shrugging and turns back around, heading towards the elevator. She pressed a button to Level P. When she got there, there were two writings that said, “ **He Will Set Us Free** ” and “ **I Don't Want To Work Here Anymore.** ” She noticed a value, and she turned the values, making the ink equally, and she collected the power cores. Then, after she collected the last one, ink-like web appeared on the walls and Stephanie realizes that the ink like web is the Devil! She quickly ran as fast as she can and ran towards a Miracle Station and quickly went inside. The ink webs disappeared, and she sighed in relief and carefully opened the door to the Miracle Station and glanced side to side, checking for the Ink Demon, and she sighed when the coast is clear. Quickly as she can, she ran straight towards the elevator and quickly as she can, she returned to the Angel and placed the core values into the slot. “ **_You see those grinning demons? Let's remove them, shall we? I've got just the tool to make this even more enjoyable._ ** ” Nephilim spoke through the speakers. Then, the slot revealed an ax, so, she took the ax, from the slot and walked over to a blocked area within the place and chopped opened the place. A Searcher was inside, waiting patiently for her, but, he was no match for her weapons, so, she chopped him to pieces.

 

After she had chopped him up, she noticed a tape recorder, and she felt curious about it, so, she pressed the play button and a male’s voice spoke through it, saying, “ _They say the real problem with Mr. Drew is that he never actually tells us, little people, anything. Oh sure, according to him there's always big stuff coming, adventure and fame and the like. But I'm the guy, see, who as to make sure our budgets don't go all out of whack just cause genius upstairs went out and got himself another idea. Speaking of which, and this is top secret, apparently, Mr. Drew has another large project in mind now, and it ain't gonna be cheap._ ” She sighed as she placed her hand on her hip. ‘Who is Grant Cohen?’ She thought to herself. ‘...This is not going easy to remember…’ She left the tape recorder at the place where it is and went upstairs to Level K and searched for Bendy cutouts, chopping them up to pieces. The trail of the cutouts lead her to the Heavenly Toys place and there, she saw the last cutout, but, ink web appeared, and she whipped around, to see not the ink creature from earlier, but the creature appears as a malformed figure covered in black ink, with an appearance bearing many similarities to that of a human being. His head highly resembles that of the original Bendy, but the top area of his head appears melted while obscuring his eyes. His horns are slightly more curved and pointed in appearance, and they appear to move sideways similar to animalistic ears. His toothy grin, with sketch-like shadings barely moves.

 

As seen from the side view of his head, the front and back of his head are fairly flat. His spine appears slightly crooked or curved, referencing the spinal condition scoliosis. His left arm is slightly longer than his right, looking thinner and less human. On his left hand, he wears an oversized white glove that sports two button. The same hand also features a small, humanized pinkie-finger. His right hand appears more human-like than a glove, looking smaller and painted partially in white. His feet are also mismatched; his right foot faintly resembles to that of a human with two toes, while the left appears to melt into a puddle to resemble a deformed-looking hoof, which gives him a limp. He also wears a bowtie close to the middle of his chest, and is slightly rotated to his right to give him a misshapen appearance. He is going through the wall as it hissed at her quietly, and she immediately ran straight towards the Miracle Station. ‘Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!!!’ She thought to herself.

 

She reached to the Miracle Station and quickly went inside and sat down on the tiny seat inside, waiting patiently for the Ink Creature to leave, peeking through the peephole. The Ink Creature walked away from the Miracle Station like an ink like a zombie and when he fully left, she shakily opened the door to the Miracle Station halfway and peeked outside, glancing side to side for him to be around. After the coast is clear, she fully came out of the Miracle Station, and she was trembling head to toe. She noticed the last cutout, and she sighed, before walking over to it and chopped it up with her ax. Everything was quiet for a moment, and she shakily inhales slowly and exhaled softly. **_“Ah, now that was fun! Oh! But we forgot to mention... He hates it when we do that. We would hide if we were you._ ** ” Nephilim spoke through the speakers. She nodded her head and walk over to the entrance of the hallway, and there, is the Ink Creature, heading towards her, so, she quickly ran straight down the hallway, as fast as she can, not caring to stop for a moment, until she reached to the closest Miracle Station and entered it, as the Ink Creature was close behind and when she entered, he snarled a hiss, before leaving her inside the Miracle Station, walking back down the hallway, forgetting about her. After he left, she quickly ran back towards Nephilim and stopped at the front.

 

“ **_The disgusting wretches have wandered our halls, have been left unchecked! They're trying to drag us back to the darkness! Don't let them take your angels! Purge them, one by one! Smash them into puddles! Kill them!_ ** ” she screeched through the speakers, making Stephanie whip her head around, as the mutated Butcher Gang, and Searchers ganged up against her, and she only has a pipe in her hand, so, she attacked them with the pipe in her hand and after the last one disappeared, she was covered in splatters of ink, and she sighed, stretching out her back. All is quiet again, like if Nephilim finally stopped talking. But, all disappeared when Nephilim said, “ **_So quiet. Like a welcoming grave. I like the silence, don't you?_ ** ” Stephanie was quiet until she growled, “ **_We hate leaving work unfinished! Fortunately, we have you to pick up the pieces. But you'll have to go even deeper. Down, down, down, into the abyss. Take the lift down. Say hello to an old friend. Sending you a little present. A little firepower. Take good care of it. It belonged to someone very special._ ** ” The slot by the door opened, revealing a Tommy gun and Stephanie felt confused and curious. She has never had held a Tommy gun before. Before she could touch it though, it dissolved in her hands, when she tried to grab it.

 

“ **_Oops. We forgot. It's a little hard to get a hold of. Oh well. Better luck next time._ ** ” Nephilim taunted through the speakers, making Stephanie feel a bit annoyed about it. She instead turned around to the elevator where Chief Burns and Boris is and pressed a button that goes down to Level 14, the bottom of the room. She stepped out of the elevator that she went through and saw a huge statue of Bendy, the Dancing Demon. ‘Whoa!’ She thought to herself. ‘Now then, where was I lookin’ for?’ She noticed a dead body of a cartoon and noticed the heart inside. ‘That’s all I have to get?’ She thought to herself in confusion. She was quiet for a moment, before shrugging her shoulders and picked up the heart and placed it in her pocket. ‘Better not show these to Charlie or Boris, or they think I might do the same thin’ to them.’ Then, she saw something flickering in the distance in one of the hallways, and she got curious. “ **_Shhh... there he is. The Projectionist. Skulking in the darkness. You be sure to stay out of his light if you don't want trouble. Just bring us back the pieces we need._ ** ” She nodded her head and saw the Projectionist, walking through the ink without any troubles, and Stephanie carefully tiptoed behind him, being careful to not make any noises to get caught, and she was far away from him, when she noticed a tape recorder, and she pressed play and the voice said, “ _Now I’m not lookin' for trouble. It’s just the nature of us projectionists to seek out the dark places. You see, I’ve learned the ins and outs of this here studio. I know how to avoid being bothered by the likes of this... company. That projectionist, they always say, creeping around, he’s just lookin’ for trouble. Well, trouble or not, I sees everything. They don’t even know when I’m watchin’. Even when I’m right behind ‘em._ ”

 

She felt confused about the voice, and she heard the name from somewhere else. ‘Norman Polk?’ She thought to herself. She gasped when she realized that the Projectionist is Norman! She felt guilt tugged her heart, but, she clenched her pipe in her hand and whispered, “I’m sorry.” She faced the Projectionist in the wide room and started attacking the Projectionist with her pipe until it died, and she watched it as it collapsed on the ground, and she was shaking. She panted for a few minutes until she started to cry. “I-I’m sorry…” she whispered. She wiped some tears off her cheek and realized that the heart not inside the Projectionist, so she glanced around in confusion until she noticed some of the boards are loose, so, with her pipe, she bashed some wooden floorboards open, and saw the last heart inside. She picked that heart inside and placed that one inside her pocket. “ **_Tell us, were they still writhing in your hands? Bring them to us now! We don't like to wait._ ** ” Nephilim barked through the speakers after a few minutes of silence. She ran back to Nephilim’s front door and placed the hearts through the slot and wiped the ink covered hands on her pants. “ **_It seems like we've reached the end of our to-do list, my little errand girl. We hope you've enjoyed our time together. I'll always treasure it. Return to the lift. It's time to go home._ ** ” Nephilim replied through the speakers.

 

Happiness filled Stephanie’s heart, but, yet, it felt easy. Almost too easy. She wants to stay in the studio to find more questions and puzzles, so, she instead walked over Level 14 and turned a value. He went upstairs and saw a room, wet from the ink and noticed a tape recorder. ‘What’s this?’ She thought to herself. She pressed the play button and a male’s voice said through the tape recorder, “ _Only two weeks into this company, and already it's gotten interesting. Joey is a man of ideas and only ideas. When I mean to start this whole thing with him, I though there'd be a little more give and take. Instead, I give, and he takes. I haven't even seen Linda for days now. Still, someone has to make this happen. When in doubt, just keep drawing Henry. On the plus side, I got a new character I think people are going to love._ ” Stephanie felt curious about the voice, and she replied, “Henry Ross Fitzpatrick.” She was quiet for a moment, before going back to the area with the elevator and went inside the elevator as it moved up after she entered and revealed the good news to Boris and Chief Burns. “You are?” Boris asked. She nodded her head. “But, I’m not leaving this place until I am done with my tasks.” She replied. “Nephilim may be done with hers, but, I am not done with mine. When I am, we all, even if I find everyone that I’ll find, we’ll all go back home.”

 

Boris and Chief Burns glanced at each other in confusion and concern, until the speakers turned on and Nephilim’s voice spoke through the speakers, saying, “ **_Have you ever wondered what Heaven is like? We like to dream that it's quite beautiful. A soft valley of green grass, blanketed by a warm sun. We don't think we'll ever get to see it. Are you ready to ascend, my little errand girl? The heavens are waiting._ ** ” Then, suddenly Nephilim started to giggle and Stephanie felt confused and curious about why she laughing until her laughter turned into mechanical laughter and suddenly, the elevator dropped from above, making Stephanie’s heart skipped a beat, as Boris and Chief Burns clenched to her, and she felt scared out of her wits. “ **_Did you really think we'd let you steal from me?! Did you really think we'd just let you go?! No, Stephanie! We know who you are! And we know why you're here! And you will not stop what needs to be done! Now come down and bring me back our Boris and Burns! It's the most perfect Boris and Burns we've ever seen, and we want it! We need it. We need their insides so that we can be beautiful again! Don't you understand? Don't you get it?! Give him to us!! Or better yet, we'll take them! Once... you're... dead!!_ ** ” Nephilim screamed through the speakers, until the elevator dropped, knocking Stephanie out, smashing the elevator to pieces, so that it won’t work anymore.

 

* * *

 

“Stephanie…”

 

“Stephanie. Wake up!”

 

Stephanie woke up slightly, to see Boris shaking Stephanie’s shoulders slightly, with a worried look on his face while Chief Burns was looking over his shoulder with also a worried look on his face, while Boris was shaking her shoulders. She tried to warn them about Nephilim behind them, but, she feels weak, and hurt, so, she limply watched as Nephilim was getting closer, and closer, until, suddenly, Boris and Chief Burns were yanked backwards, into the darkness, leaving Stephanie going back into darkness, filled with pain and dizziness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for the next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like this story!


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